A couple of weekends ago we held the 32nd installment of our annual winter gaming retreat. We have about a dozen guys—most of us friends for thirty years or more—who come together every winter for a few days to play games, eat and drink, and laugh. The event is always a highlight of my winter and this installment did not disappoint.
I ran a couple of games, including “Song of Myself,” the latest installment of my Into the Interface Traveller campaign. This time the crew of the IMV Starjammer were dispatched into Solomani territory, charged by their Duchess with the destruction of a new A.I. designing the latest dreadnought for the Confederation Navy: a ship so advanced it threatens the balance of power in Magyar sector. The game was heavily influenced by several ideas from Mongoose's awesome Singularity campaign. I′ll post the write-up soonish.
The second game was “The Dragon Urn,” a romp on the Fourth Level of the Great Dungeon of the North. I used an awesome map from Dyson's Delve, translated into a Dwarven Forge setup (shown above). It had been a while since I had a chance to break out the terrain, and I was glad for the opportunity. The climax was a showdown with Ardeth, the black dragon daughter of Delith, spawn of Old Brokehorn himself. I′ll also post the dungeon key for this delve at some point.
I got a chance to play some D&D, which is always a hoot. We did a session of my friend Rob′s Erlach campaign, investigating the mysteries of Gray′s Cove. Another friend, Eli, ran a rip-roaring session of Keys from the Golden Vault that involved a heist from the devil-themed (and staffed!) casino called The Underworld.
There was a booster draft of Magic the Gathering, some sessions of Power Grid, our annual Amoeba Wars tournament, poker, and more. We even did a belated Friendsgiving, which gave us an opportunity to reflect on how lucky we are to be part of such a band of brothers.
